Wednesday, April 30, 2008

(Black) Flags of Our Fathers (2:29 pm)

Scott McLemee has a great post up at Crooked Timber in celebration of May Day and, what’s more, the interesting developments among Longshoremen on the West Coast, who are planning to close the ports to protest the war in Iraq under the slogan “no peace, no work.” Scott cites a friend who notes that the complicity of the labor movement during the Vietnam war might have made a certain amount of sense at a time when capital was (relatively) letting labor in on the deal, i.e., when union density was around 35 percent. That’s no longer the case, and hasn’t been for quite some time.

In any event, Chicago readers who want to partake in May Day festivities should consider joining this march, which looks to be a nice example of a coalition that demands both worker and immigrant rights.

posted by Brian Cook | start the discussion

How we put meat on the table (10:06 am)

It seems obvious enough: when hyper-capitalism meets livestock, terrible things will ensue. Not only for animals, but for the rural communities playing host to noxious factory farms.

If only this brand-new two-year study, from the Pew Commission on Industrial Animal Farm Production, were required reading for all Americans. The Washington Post does a great job today summarizing the report, called “Putting Meat on the Table: Industrial Farm Production in America.” Its call-to-arms:

At the end of his second term, President Dwight Eisenhower warned the nation about the dangers of the military-industrial complex—an unhealthy alliance between the defense industry, the Pentagon, and their friends on Capitol Hill. Now, the agro-industrial complex—an alliance of agriculture commodity groups, scientists at academic institutions who are paid by the industry, and their friends on Capitol Hill—is a concern in animal food production in the 21st century.

It notes the agriculture industry’s ubiquitous influence - in academic research, agriculture policy development, government regulation, and enforcement - and often devastating impact on rural communities:

Communities with greater concentrations of industrial farming operations have experienced higher levels of unemployment and increased poverty. Associated social concerns—from elevated crime and teen pregnancy rates to increased numbers of itinerant laborers—are problematic in many communities and place greater demands on public services. The economic multiplier of local revenue generated by a corporate-owned farming operation is substantially lower than that of a locally owned operation. Reduced civic participation rates, higher levels of stress, and other less tangible impacts have all been associated with high concentrations of industrial farm production.

Sad, how rare it is to see unvarnished truth and forceful recommendations make it out of expensive politically-charged commissions. And with disturbing pictures, to boot. Once in a while, the obvious isn’t watered down by committee reviews.

But will Congress take a step in the right direction, and pass the Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act?

posted by Jeremy Gantz | start the discussion

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Go directly to jail (11:12 am)

In what must rank as today’s most cringe-worthy development, the NY Times reports that China has jailed 30 Tibetans for their alleged looting and violence against ethnic Chinese in Tibet last month. One man was given a life sentence for burning cars and throwing stones.

And who does China continue to blame for causing and orchestrating the clashes? The Dalai Llama, of course - the same man Chinese officials announced Friday they’d like to meet with. It’s a diabolical strategy - paint the exiled leader as a treacherous puppet master while extending a warm welcoming hand to him. Chinese officials are very good at staying on message. To wit:

“We hope the Dalai can cherish this opportunity, recognize the situation and change his position to take concrete measures to stop his criminal acts of violence, stop his sabotage of the Beijing Olympics and his separatist activities, so as to create conditions for the next step of talks,” the spokeswoman, Jiang Yu, said during a news conference.

Strange how China wants the Dalai Llama to both lead Tibetans and not lead Tibetans. There’s nothing quite like the Olympic spirit.

posted by Jeremy Gantz | start the discussion

Monday, April 28, 2008

Torture Subpoenas? (8:16 pm)

John Yoo, former Attorney General John Ashcroft, and Vice Presidential Chief of Staff David Addington have now all declined to testify before the House Judiciary committee on the White House’s torture policies. Committee Chairman John Conyers first responded to their objections, and now has threatened to issue subpoenas.

“I will have no choice,” Conyers says, “but to consider the use of compulsory process.” Stay tuned.

posted by Brian Beutler, Media Consortium | 1 comment

McCain revising the Cold War (7:43 pm)

While the right whines about the DNC’s 100 years of war advertisement, check out these two articles that demonstrate quite clearly John McCain’s expansive and dangerous views on military power.

First is Matt Yglesias’ cover story in The American Prospect, which shows how McCain laid the groundwork for what’s now known as the Bush doctrine of preemptive war.

Despite neoconservatism’s close association in the public imagination with the Bush administration, and despite McCain’s image as a moderate, a look at the record makes clear that McCain, not Bush, is the real neocon in the Republican Party. McCain was the neocons’ candidate in 2000, McCain adhered to a truer version of the faith during the early years of hubris that followed September 11, and as president McCain would likely pursue policies that will make what we’ve seen from Bush look like a pale imitation of the real thing. McCain, after all, is the candidate of perpetual war in Iraq. The candidate who, despite his protestations in a March speech that he “hates war,” not only stridently backed the 2003 invasion of Iraq but has spent years calling on the United States to depose every dictator in the world. He’s the candidate of ratcheting-up action against North Korea and Iran, of new efforts to undermine the United Nations, and of new cold wars with Russia and China. Rather than hating war, he sees it as integral to the greatness of the nation, and military service as the highest calling imaginable. It is,... read more

posted by Adam Doster | start the discussion

Bigotry’s final legal frontier (3:07 pm)

Obesity just might be the last unregulated frontier of discrimination. Laws fighting bias on the basis of religion, race, age, gender and sexual orientation have become commonplace in the U.S., but only Michigan and San Francisco, Washington D.C., Madison, Wis., and Santa Cruz, Calif. have passed laws outlawing bias against height and weight, according to a Chicago Tribune article published today. Massachusetts’ legislature is currently mulling over a similar law.

Weirdly, the two people who weigh in against these laws (sorry, couldn’t resist the pun) in the article are overweight or obese, which gives the odd impression of people wanting to be discriminated against:

But not everyone, including the corpulent, considers anti-weight-bias legislation a good idea.

“Legislation happens when people are too childish to police themselves,” said Sue Ann Jaffarian, author of the Odelia Grey mystery series starring a 220-pound heroine who is a reflection of her creator.

“But, as a fat woman, I don’t want a green light,” said Jaffarian, 55, who worries that such a law would validate what some consider unhealthy weight. “The downside of legislation is that the prejudice would go more underground.”

This sort of discrimination is more complex than that against, say, race, gender or sexual orientation, because weight can be changed. The question is: By how much? Where you stand on this issue, it seems to me, depends to a large extent on how much you believe genes influence weight. But whether you’re for or against the laws , the sheer scale of the problem - two-thirds of Americans are overweight or obese - is astonishing:

With health costs rising, employee weight, like smoking, is on many employers’ minds. According to a report this month by The Conference Board, obese employees cost U.S. private businesses about $45 billion annually in medical expenses and absenteeism. The report also said obesity accounts for a greater increase in health-care costs than smoking or problem drinking…

For more on what the Trib terms the “fat acceptance movement,” check out the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance.

posted by Jeremy Gantz | 1 comment

All the misogyny fit to print? (2:56 pm)

Is the New York Times Book Review anti-feminist? A fascinating article in the current issue of Bitch emphatically argues: Yes.

Recently, Times editors—in both the daily paper and the Sunday section—have trotted out a particularly insidious formula for bashing feminist authors. First, hire a female reviewer to unleash misogynist tropes in her piece and then, lest she appear prejudiced against her own gender, throw in an illogical, contradictory statement about the importance of a less threatening version of feminism that isn’t so “polarizing,” “provocative,” or “strident.”

More evidence that the Times is not – and, I think, never has been - the bastion of rampant liberalism conservatives love to accuse it of being.

posted by Jeremy Gantz | start the discussion

Campaigns vs. Reality (2:48 pm)

Liberals and conservative alike can agree that President Bush’s foreign policies have not turned out to be those suggested by his 2000 campaign (humble foreign policy? Aversion to nation-building?).

On the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the New Deal, Reason’s Jesse Walker looks back at how FDR the 1932 candidate became the FDR we all remember today. And he looks forward to how the presidency might change Obama, McCain or Clinton. In politics, nothing is certain:

Come 2012, President Obama might be explaining why he is sending more troops to Tehran; or President McCain could be preparing emergency legislation to nationalize the banks. If so, our leader’s former self will join Bush the humble non-interventionist and Roosevelt the budget hawk on the fringes of the nation’s memory. A candidate’s campaign persona: There’s the true Forgotten Man.